Welcome
(From the Club President)
Welcome to another month of the North Country ATV Association, Inc. Newsletter. We continue to work hard every month to insure that everyone in the Club gets the most up to date information. We all understand that it is not easy to make each and every meeting. Be sure to keep up to date with changing events, scheduled rides and trail status by visiting the ever changing NCAA-Inc. website.
Thank You
(From the Vice President) Thanks to all for a great turnout at this month’s meeting, again confirming your dedication and support for your Club. We appreciate your understanding as we push the VASA insurance issue, and are extremely confident that the Board of Director’s of VASA will come through for us all. Your continued support is critical during this transition period. May 15th is just around the corner, and we are looking forward to getting some work done on our trails and putting some miles behind us! Hope to see you at the upcoming rides. Stay tuned for exciting things this summer!!!
VASA Update
For those of you that did not make the May meeting, we need to make you all aware of the situation with VASA and the Trail Liability Insurance. There have been many changes at VASA in the past few weeks. The Annual Meeting was held and new officers were voted in. Since the Annual Meeting, the President, John Ley,
has resigned, causing the newly elected Vice President to step in and take over. There was a new Vice President elected by the VASA Board of Directors at an emergency meeting held in Berlin, Vermont on May 5th, 2003. The meeting was attended by myself and 14 other representatives from the 14 clubs throughout Vermont. Much discussion focused on the current issue with trail insurance, as this is the most vital piece of our existence with landowners. VASA is in daily contact with 3 different insurance carriers to try and get the situation resolved quickly. Best guesses puts the policy into effect by June 1, 2003. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it may be sooner than that. We are all very eager to get out and start working, mapping and riding our trails and those throughout the State.
**UPDATE** Insurance issues are also being worked by the State of Vermont on the behalf of VASA.
Events
North Country ATV Association, Inc. will be co-sponsoring the Franklin County Field Days ATV pulls. Stay tuned for more information. We will be looking for volunteers to help staff the event. We already have the sled, scales, rules, etc. in place. A big THANK YOU to Big Dog Pulling for contacting us and having the equipment needed to make this a successful event for not only Franklin County, but North Country ATV Association and its members. We are looking forward to a very big turn out from the Club. We attended the Maple Festival Parade this past month. The turnout was nominal but nice. We are also planning to attend the Enosburg Dairy Days Parade. We will be looking for a much bigger turn out. We had little notice for the Maple Festival so coordination was not as good as we would have liked. Helmets are required for riders and passengers. If you have small children that would like to attend, please let us know as soon as possible. We are thinking about towing a trailer behind a truck leading off the ATV riders. We will have plenty of room for small children and others that choose not to ride an ATV. We do ask that all safety rules are followed for all riders and/or passengers. Be sure that the young people are on a registered ATV that is appropriate to their size. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Rides
There are rides planned for May 18th in Canada, May 21st in Malone, New York and we are also working on a weekend/overnight ride in Canada. The May 18th ride in Canada will have a meeting time of 8:00am at the Swanton McDonalds parking lot. There is a list of monies and rules posted on the Message Forum of our website; www.ncaa-inc.com. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to call one of your officers.
The next ride is planned for May 21st in Malone, New York. We have been invited over by some fellow riders in New York State. Start time for this ride will be 6:00am also meeting at the Swanton McDonalds. We have to be at Western Auto on Route 11 in Malone at 8:00am. Please be prompt. If you have questions, please call Jerry at 524-9809.
Lastly, there will be a weekend/overnight ride in Canada. Dates are May 24th and 25th. This will be an opportunity to ride with your significant other or anyone else you would like. There is a hotel along the trail. Cost is $50.00 Canadian per night. Come one come all. If you have questions or are interested in attending, please contact Claire Willette at 849-6729.
General Information
Jerry Wolfenbarger is attending the ATV Safety Institute on June 4-June 7 to become certified to conduct ATV safety training classes. This is good news for the Club as it will allow us to get everybody in the Club trained. This can also help lower some insurance premiums that you may (should) have on your ATV’s. More information will come when Jerry comes back.
Member Stats
Here are some general facts about our members:
1. There are 161 registered members as of this newsletter; 134 men, 15 women, 2 under the age of 18 (for those who reported their age).
2. Ages of members range from 15-66 years of age (for those who reported it).
3. There are 2 members from New York and 3 members from Massachusetts.
Contact Info
Jerry Wolfenbarger, President at 524-9809; Andy King, Vice President-868-9909; Claire Willette, Secretary-849-6729.
Please feel free to contact any one of us if you have any concerns or questions.
